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Teacher Success Stories

Many of our RET Site attendees have brought their students to the mechatronics laboratory on field trips. Moreover, many have borrowed projects developed under this effort to conduct demos in their classrooms. Our RET Site alumni also visit the new RET attendees during the summer program to present their research projects and to share their approaches to raising funds, integrating project activities in lessons and laboratories, and creating new programs.

2015 RET Site Attendees:

On May 7, 2015, students of summer 2015 cohort of teachers participated in an Inno/Vention competition that attracted 50 attendees, who presented 10 innovations. The teachers and student presenters met at NYU Tandon's Urban Future Lab at 15 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY, to showcase their inventive and innovative ideas before a panel of judges. Teams were greeted by the judges and then found seats to begin the proceedings with a few talks about the hard work and satisfaction that comes with harnessing innovation and creativity. While some groups of students had prototypes for harvesting energy or for transporting food, others had developed new websites and mobile applications for social networking with classmates and giving to charity. Other innovative ideas proposed by students included a new device for shoveling snow and a trade system for nations with malnourished citizens to share goods. Several prizes were awarded to the teams, including for top hardware, top software, and honorable mention to a team of students from an elementary school. The competition achieved its aim of giving young students an opportunity to exercise their creative thinking, communicate their ideas, and witness the work of their peers. Teachers had succeeded in bringing their newly acquired knowledge and skills to their classrooms. Two students from the top ranked hardware and software teams interned 1 day a week throughout summer'15 at NYU's Lean Launchpad to learn about starting a new business. The next Inno/Vention competition is scheduled for May 13, 2016, and is expected to draw significant interest from the RET Site participants and their teachers.

RET teachers have conducted field trips for their students to NYU Tandon labs, raised funds to integrate mechatronics activities in labs and science clubs, disseminated their RET experience, developed new curriculum, and led workshops for other teachers. Some illustrative examples follow.

Ms. Chu is leading 18 middle school girls in a Girls Who Code Club. Her team participated in an Agile Youth Challenge hosted at Microsoft and spent an entire day working on programming projects to solve real-life program.

Her next step is to engage her students to transform the school garden into a "smart garden" applying their STEAM skills including Computer Science. She also received in-kind support from the CEO of Parallax Inc., who donated to her school two robot kits and a kit of sensors.

Ms. Fittipaldi is working with her senior math class of 27 female students on robotics and introducing them the field of engineering. After presenting her model Boe-Bot robot to her students, she piqued their interest and went on to receive a grant from the Young Women's Leadership Network to purchase nine Boe-Bot robotics kits.

Now, she is engaging her students in building their own robots while simultaneously learning basic engineering and design concepts. She plans to provide her robotics resources and supplies to other senior class teachers to broaden the reach and sphere of influence to include as many students as possible. She has also started an after school 3D printing club for approximately 25 female students, who are learning to design and create objects using Sketchup software and bringing those objects to life thorough the utilization of the Makerbot and Ekocycle 3D printers. Finally, she is having her seniors compete in their own version of the innovation fair to prepare them for the NYU Tandon's Innovention competition in May.

Mr. Irimina created and led a one day workshop for teachers of The New York Performance Standards Consortium Schools on "How to engage and attract more students to STEM fields."

26 HS Science teachers and one district superintendent received introduction to

Design electrical circuits with and without Arduino and

Build robotic cars and produce behaviors for them using algorithms and programming.

Almost 90% of the participants expressed interest to visit Iulian's HS Robotics class during Teacher Intervisitation Days in April. He also engaged 22 HS students (17 males, 5 females) in a course on Robotics using the Arduino and Basic Stamp microcontrollers. This course combined elements of electronics, programming, robotics, and engineering and was offered as a semester elective to juniors and seniors. The students reviewed and practiced building electric circuits and learned to apply and change their behavior using algorithms and programming. They worked in teams to build the Boe-Bot robot and focused on creating interesting programs to drive the robot in various design scenarios. At the end of class, 3 senior students expressed interest in continuing their robotics related work as interns and assisting the teacher in the lab with the new students the following semester. A video about sample class projects can be found here https://vimeo.com/137648350. As part of a school trip to NYU Tandon in November 2015, all 10 HS students from the first semester class visited the Mechatronics Lab and talked to the graduate students about the on-going robotic projects. In the second semester, Mr. Irimina plans to introduce basic concepts of building electrical circuits to 85 eighth graders during his Computer Science classes. He also leads an after school Innovation Club where students work on producing their own innovations to prepare for participation in the NYU Innovention competition for K-12 schools.

Using the knowledge gained in the RET project, Mr. Frank started the first IS 93 computer coding club, which uses sites such as code.org and codeacademy.org.

This activity was motivated by Chancellor Carmen Fariña's visit to NYU where she emphasized the important role of STEM in the classroom. Mr. Frank consulted with other participants and graduate students in the RET program to formulate ideas and identify resources. The coding club consists of 33 enthusiastic students (6 girls and a high percentage of Hispanic students), who participate in the club with excitement to learn how to code. Mr. Frank also incorporates engineering topics in his classes, for example, his 8th grade students learned the technological aspect of solar power energy. His 6th grade students were engaged in conversations asking him about how robots and electricity work. He is now working on an entrepreneurship program where students will be engaged in learning and practicing a 9 minute pitch using "How to Create an Elevator" pitch by Michael Hyatt and Shark tank.

Ms. Merrick has hosted engineering faculty and students from NYU Tandon in her classes, introducing her students to geotechnical, electrical, and mechanical engineering. She has integrated problem- and challenge-based activities in her classes and is encouraging a positive disposition towards innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Walcott, with support from NYU Tandon's Dynamical Systems Lab, is conducting a course on underwater mechatronics for 20 students from Brooklyn Technical High School. The course commenced in the fall of 2015 and will end in the spring of 2016.

More than 50% of the student participants are females. About 10% are African American, More than 80% are Asian and 5% are White and 5% other ethnic groups. Three research teams of students are currently under Dr. Walcott's mentorship and their multi-year projects are connected to his RET research project. The fish flow chamber investigated by him has as its core theories, models from fluid dynamics, including the Bernoulli's equation, Poiseuille's equation, and the gas laws. One team has been developing a micro-energy harvester for use in dish washers and drains of kitchen sinks. Another team has been using mixed method research (quantitative and qualitative) to develop a new ergonomic mouth piece for the blow pipe. The blow pipe is used by zoo veterinarians to deliver tranquilizing darts to non-domestic animals. The aerodynamics and aerostatics of the forced expiratory volume from the lungs and through the lips of a blow gun operator are the focus of the investigation (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Morphometric studies are conducted on lips of a sample population to develop an ergonomic mouth piece for the blow pipe that will be comfortable for use by veterinarians with different lip shapes. A third team has been conducting studies to develop a novel drone aircraft with energy harvesting capabilities. Two abstracts have been submitted for the 2016 American Association of Mechanical Engineers International Fuel Cell Conference in North Carolina.

Figure 1: Dart, blow-pipe, and T-piece

Figure 2: Apparatus used for aerodynamic studies of the lip as an extension of a tube, including the blow pipe mouth piece and transparent tube. Blunt darts are launched by forced expiratory volume from a human operator. The pressure of gases in the blow pipe can be measured using the Vernier software.

Ms. Xiong has started an after school "Maker's Club" for her middle school students to teach them computer programming using Arduino Kits. She purchased a classroom set of Arduino Starter Kits for the club.

She is working with 18 students (consisting of 7 girls and 11 boys) enhancing their creativity and sense of entrepreneurship via activities involving programming and electric circuitry. Several students were inspired by the club and purchased their own set of Arduino to work on their leisure. She has also integrated engineering and design components into her 6th and 7th grade science classes. For example, in a 6th grade class of 34 students (consisting of 14 boys and 20 girls), students had to design their own simple and compound machines. In the force and motion unit, students designed their own roller coaster to explore the dynamics in force, energy and motion. From these exercises, students learned to create 3D models and measure the efficiency of their designs through the use of their own blueprints. Her seventh grade class of 27 students (consisting of 10 boys and 17 girls) were asked to create new and innovative ideas incorporating science and technology, allowing them to make connections between science, technology, and engineering. In her 8th grade Earth Science class, she implemented her research experience in capillary action into lessons. She demonstrated and presented her research experience to students to inspire them to think and learn like a scientist.

2014 RET Site Attendees:

The 2015 Inno/Vention competition for the students of the 2014 RET Site teachers is scheduled on May 7, 2015, and is expected to draw significant interest from the RET Site participants and their students. Below we provide illustrative examples of how the participants from the 2014 summer workshop have integrated their RET Site experiences in their classroom activities.

Prasad Akavoor and David Arnstein engaged 65 female students in a science course on two 10-day long engineering collaborations, including a fictitious "restless baby syndrome" challenge and a global sustainability/energy use challenge, with both projects including research, presentation, prototyping, peer evaluation, engineering design process, and creative problem solving.

Prasad Akavoor and David Arnstein write that they have been making progress "on implementing engineering projects at Chapin that have been inspired by our work at NYU-Poly this past summer in the RET program. It has been a busy year for us at Chapin, and we have taken the inspiration and direction of the RET program to heart." There are four specific areas where the RET experience has impacted their work, although there is a broader shift towards Engineering/Design principles in their teaching that is also underway. Since Chapin is an all-girls school, the curriculum changes and projects Prasad and David have integrated into their work provide a direct impact on a targeted group-young women in STEM. While specific demographic information about students is private, students at Chapin come from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and New Jersey. Young women of color make up 38% of the student body and 21% of the girls receive tuition assistance. The four specific areas the two teachers have focused on are as follows.

Revamping the 8th grade science course to include two 10-day long engineering collaborations. The two collaborative engineering projects had an impact on the entire 8th grade (65 students). The first project involved a fictitious engineering challenge we created called the "Restless Baby Syndrome (RBS) Project." A website was developed (work on this began at NYU-Poly in summer) that described a malady called RBS. Students, working in teams, had to design a solution to this syndrome. The second project was designed to integrate into the school's International Week programming (although the project spanned a little more than two weeks). Students had to identify and research a real-world problem related to Global Sustainability/Energy Use and develop a solution to a problem they identified. Both projects had multiple components including research, presentation, prototyping, peer evaluation, engineering design process, and creative problem solving.

A new Upper Level Engineering course was developed and offered to students for the upcoming 2015-2016 school year. This course is intended to challenge young women who intend to pursue careers in STEM to "College Level" engineering and design challenges. The intent of the course is to ultimately replace an AP Physics course with an alternative that provides real-world challenges, a broad look at various engineering practices, internship and research opportunities, and an inspiring curriculum that deals with modern practices and inquiry. While this course is expected to have a small enrollment next year, the plan is for enrollment to grow to 12-18 young women/year.

A new engineering-based unit for current physics students. This unit has been planned for the Spring 2015 and it is based directly on inspirations and work completed during the RET program at NYU-Poly. The unit involves study of electric circuits in detail and motors in particular. More specifically, students will be investigating the effect of load on motors as they begin to learn electromagnetic induction and Faraday's law.

Extra-curricular work in Robotics at Chapin. The two teachers coach robotics teams at Chapin - Prasad works with the school's FIRST Robotics program (open to grades 9-12) and David launched a new RoboSoccer Jr. team (for 6-8 grade). These teams meet regularly after school for the entire school year. While the numbers of students are currently modest (12-15 students) these are high profile programs that build upon a much larger Robotics program in grades 4-6 (80 students enrolled).

With resources from Code.og, Lee Hollman is engaging students in an after school club to build and program robots. In collaboration with a social entrepreneurship company, Uncharted Play, he conducted a pilot program for 40 students and has prepared four lessons.

Lee Hollman has introduced advanced robotics and social entrepreneurship to a variety of students this year across multiple classes. For his 4th/5th grade special education class, he taught the fundamentals of electrical engineering by using some of the RET lecture slides and a Snap Circuits kit to create a working circuit board for school's science fair. The circuit board and slides were also used at the school's Student Enrichment Model (SEM) program, in which teachers lead extracurricular clubs, impacting 15 additional students from general education and gifted classes. The Boe-Bot was also introduced during SEM program to bring coding to the robotics club for the first time. Students built remote-controlled and programmable robots as before, but Lee also used resources from code.org to introduce coding concepts for the Boe-Bot. The school's technology teacher plans to introduce the Boe-Bot to her upper-grade classes, impacting at least 50-60 more students. Lee also partnered with Uncharted Play, a social entrepreneurship company that is developing a curriculum for schools. (The inspiration came from RET instructor Dr. Nov's entrepreneurship module.) Lee ran a pilot program with 40 students, a team of six from this group will introduce an invention and business venture concept at NYU's Inno/Vention contest. Uncharted Play has invited Lee to help revise their curriculum for teaching social entrepreneurship, and he has written four lessons. Meanwhile, he plans on continuing to teach his social entrepreneurship curriculum to at least 30-40 new students next year.

Louis Morgan is engaging students in the school's Science Bowl Club and the Amateur Radio and Wireless Technology Club. In addition, his AP Biology class students will be presented a mechatronics lesson and will have option to perform a mechatronics project.

Louis Morgan has engaged his school's Science Bowl Club to learn from his RET site experience. For example, he has brought the Boe-bot kit to the club meetings for students to experiment with the robot. For the club's research and career day event, he plans to give a talk on mechatronics and demonstrate various activities. He has also planned a trip for the club's students to NYU business incubator. These activities are impacting approximately 40 students. In another activity, he is working with his school's Amateur Radio and Wireless Technology Club. The team has developed wirelessly operated vehicles by integrating the use of Raspberry Pi single-board computer. Louis is now working with the students in club to investigate the use of Arduino for Ham radio. This activity is impacting about 5 students. For his AP biology class, he had developed a mechatronics lesson that will be implemented after the AP Biology exam in May 2015. The students also have an option to perform a mechatronics project. This activity will impact over 100 students. Finally, he is collaborating with a colleague and RET Site attendee, Dr.Walcott, to mentor a student team for the 2015 Innovention contest at NYU SoE for the students of RET Site teachers.

Horace E. Walcott has been a multi-year RET Site participant. In 2011, Mr. Walcott of Brooklyn Tech. H.S. was selected as one of 20 Siemens STAR teachers nationwide. Since 2012, he has annually served as a research mentor in a program wherein students conduct multi-year research and participate in the national and international STEM talent search contests. In spring 2014, 13 classes, consisting of 33 students per class, will conduct experiments with H2Go Cars to solve problems in electrochemical thermodynamics of hydrogen combustion and its interfacing with applied mechatronics.

Since 2012, Horace E. Walcott has served as one of the five mentors for the Weston Research Scholars Program at the Brooklyn Technical High School (BTHS). The program enables 20 gifted students each year to conduct multi-year research and participate in the major national and international STEM talent search contests. The students also publish their investigations in peer-reviewed journals and present papers at national and international conferences. In 2014, three papers were presented at the International Fuel Cell Conference in Boston, MA. Tameem Ahmed, a Weston Scholar under Horace's mentorship, represented New York City at the NAACP sponsored ACT-SO talent search competition in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tameem has been developing a low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell that requires mechatronics for its operation. He was the first place (i.e., Gold Medal) winner in the 2014 Spring NYC ACT-SO talent search contest and will participate in the 2015 Google World Science Fair. Reaz Mohammad, a senior at BTHS and a Weston Research student, has been developing an in-pipe water turbine, which will be used in developing countries for energy harvesting of the hydrokinetic energy from water flowing from the roofs of houses due to rainfall. Reaz participated in the Intel Science Talent Search contest and will be participating in the Google World Science Fair. He participated in the 2015 New York City Science and Engineering Fair and won the Environmental Quest Award. Reaz will also represent BTHS at the 2015 Innovention contest at NYU SoE. RET teachers Mr. Morgan and Horace are the mentors for Reaz as he prepares for the Innovention contest. In Spring 2015, 13 classes consisting of 33 students per class will be conducting experiments with H2Go Cars. They will be able to solve problems in electrochemical thermodynamics of hydrogen combustion and its interfacing with applied mechatronics. Two abstracts from three Weston Research students at BTHS have been submitted for publication and presentation at the 2015 International Fuel Cell Conference in San Diego.

Sarah Wigodsky and her 15 seniors from the advanced electronics course visited mechatronics, composites, and incubator labs at NYU SoE on a field trip.

Sarah Wigodsky co-taught the senior Engineering and Entrepreneurship course for two months. The course had 9 students, 7 boys and 2 girls. She taught the students about entrepreneurship using her RET Site experience and supported them through a project in which they worked to redesign an existing product. She also incorporated her mechatronics experience and content when teaching about capacitors in her electronics course, which had 12 students, 10 boys and 2 girls. A group of 15 seniors, from the Advanced Electronics course and Engineering and Entrepreneurship course, visited NYU SoE on Tuesday, October 28, 2014. They visited Dr. Kapila's mechatronics lab, Dr. Gupta's composite materials lab, and the SoE incubator. Jared Frank demonstrated the CAESAR robot that he has built and programmed and talked about his experiences as an engineering student. Steven Zeltmann and Chongchen Xiang taught our students about composite materials and performed a dynamic compression test. Sarah showed the students her research poster from the summer and discussed the project she had worked on with RET teacher Charisse Nelson. The group also toured the incubator, learned about how it supports new green companies, and heard from entrepreneurs about their experiences.

Michael Zitolo created an eight-week curriculum, offered to 30 seniors (11 females, 19 males), on physical computing. As a Master Teacher Fellow, he led 8 workshops to introduce 40 NYC teachers to Arduinos.

Michael Zitolo has created an eight-week curriculum on Physical Computing using Arduinos that is being implemented with his Physics II classes. In total, 30 senior students (11 females, 19 males) will create interactive systems as the culminating project for the course. In a style similar to the one used with teachers in the RET program, in each lesson students are given a task and then asked to reflect on the current outcome and make modifications to achieve new outcomes. This process of inquiry leads students to construct an operational understanding of physical computing processes. Then, through questions that push them to engage in guided research, students gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental concepts. The introductory lessons have students explore the basics of Arduinos, such as controlling simple actuators (like LEDs and piezo buzzers), collecting information from sensors (like photo-resistors and force-sensitive resistors), and engaging in serial communication. At the end of the introductory lessons, students decide upon a final project idea. Students then choose from the remaining lessons to learn about things relevant to their project, such as more complex transducers (like servo motors, IR sensors, and ultrasonic range finders) and other circuit components (like transistors). All curriculum materials for this unit can be found on Michael's course website here: http://sofphysics.wikispaces.com/Arduino+Page. The impact of this program extends well beyond Michael's physics classes though. Michael also runs an after school science club. Approximately 15 students (6 female, 9 male) meet once a week after school to learn about topics that interest them. In the spring semester, Michael and his co-advisor teach students the basics of physical computing following a similar structure described above. Michael is also a Math for America (MfA) Master Teacher Fellow. Through MfA, Michael has led a series of eight workshops to help over 40 NYC teachers learn how to use Arduinos.

2013 RET Site Attendees:

On May 8, 2014, students of summer 2013 cohort of teachers participated in an Inno/Vention competition that attracted 50 attendees, who presented 12 innovations. The winners of the top prize had already filed a provisional patent for their invention. Two students from 2 top ranked teams interned 1 day a week throughout summer'14 at NYU's Lean Launchpad to learn about starting a new business. The following projects by the students of RET teachers were presented.

Below we provide illustrative examples of how the participants from the 2013 summer workshop have integrated their RET Site experiences in their classroom activities.

Jason Econome has mentored student participation in the Innovention project and implemented his RET Site research as classroom lessons.

Jason Econome has organized at least one team every year to participate in the NYU-Polytechnic Innovention contest. Typical teams of participants are 9-10 graders (Asian or Indian ethnicity; 2:1 boys to girls). Last year a team presented an online tutorial project to be accessible to other high school students concerning all subjects. He has used his "transparent soil" RET Site project experience as part of his lesson on plant development. Specifically, he taught germination (with transparent soil beads) to his class. The students built their own terrarium and monitored progress over a couple of weeks. They create their concentration of transparent gel mixture along with other ingredients to support germination such as the amount of nitrogen (fertilizer), temperature, and water. They enjoyed the project. He also engages students to research and grow alfalfa or grass under stressful conditions (high salt, high acidity, low water, and high temperature or possibly a contaminant). Typical classroom demographics include: 34 students; 90% Asian, 5% Indian, 5% Causcasian; 1:1 boys to girls.

Jigar Jadav received a grant through which he introduces the Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms to his computer science class in which students undertake open-ended DIY projects. A STEM gallery showcases students' work at a STEMtastic event.

Jigar Jadav has received a grant through Mamaroneck Schools Foundation to introduce Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms to his computer science students. His RET experience at NYU SoE led him to introduce physical computing to his computer science students. He has a 1:1 ratio on the Raspberry Pi computing platforms with his students. He started out building very simple circuits using resistors, LEDs, potentiometers, etc. He is using these circuits to teach students fundamental concepts in programming. It has been a huge success so far! The level of student engagement has been phenomenal. He hopes to wrap up the physical computing unit on Arduino platform with an open-ended DIY projects for students where they can design and build anything they want (either an original idea or replicate/modify something from instructibles.com). After that, he is planning on using the Raspberry Pi to go more in-depth with programming. He is looking forward to sharing with students his computer vision research project from the RET. Student work will be displayed in a STEM gallery and will be showcased in the school's annual STEMtastic event in May. He thanked the RET Site for providing teachers with a wonderful opportunity to explore these platforms and become comfortable to eventually bring them back to their classrooms.

Jason Rann used his RET Site experience in a robotics class where students designed experiments. In addition, he engaged students in conducting materials tests in an engineering class. Click here to see more details.

Jason Rann used his RET Site experience to implement a research based project in his Robotics course. This course consists of juniors and seniors, approximately 90% female 10% male student population in a class of 34. Students were required design an experiment, use their VEX robotics kits to collect data, and then present their findings in a formal paper and research poster. In addition, he applied his summer research experience in his Engineering classes. He teaches approximately 90 Engineering students with the female/male ratio of approximately 85%/15%. This project was inspired by the lessons Jason and his partner teacher Charisse designed and Jason turned it into a long term project for the students to become materials engineers. In this project they test different materials to determine the best choice for a build project. He built a hardness rig to test the hardness of materials by creating an impact and measuring the area of the impact. Students also calculated density and researched average cost per volume.

2011 RET Site Attendees:

Below we provide illustrative examples of how the participants from the 2011 summer workshop have integrated their RET Site experiences in their classroom activities.

Jeffrey Bernhardt has created an 8 week section on iPhone/Arduino development. Students wired a model home with an Arduino, Wi-Fly, lights, and a servo (acting as a garage door opener). They then worked on developing an iPhone App to open and close the garage door and turn lights on and off. He also created an 8 week course Lego Robotics and RobotC for his Introduction to Computers class. His Game Programming course now develops games for iPhone and Androids in addition to web-based games. The Lynbrook School District also approved a full year Robotics course for next year. The course includes both Lego and Tetrix robots to be programmed in RobotC.

By using the smart permeameter developed during the RET project, Ryan Cain has conducted hands-on investigations with 60 second graders from three classes to measure permeability of a variety of soil samples and characterize their appropriate use. In addition, Ryan Cain engaged 99 second graders from five classes in a culminating project on "River Erosion Model" to conclude a second grade unit on Earth materials. A Makerbot 3D printer was utilized to fabricate scaled-models of residential and commercial buildings that were installed on a river bank, modeled on a table-top using a variety of clay and sand. The river model demonstrates water's ability to change the surface of the Earth and students could visualize the impact of erosion on their built environment. The setup can also enable students to investigate the effects of foundation-types, foundation material, etc., to withstand a flood event.

Rebecca Cruz created and conducted an introductory course on Mechatronics in fall 2011. The class met five times a week for 50 minutes per session and it was taken by 23 high school students who earned 1.5 credits. Students completed five units of study consisting of 37 lessons and have completed hands-on activities including programming and controlling a robot to perform various maneuvers. Rebecca's school, Forsyth Satellite Academy, is member of the NY Performance Standards Consortium of alternative schools. A school mentor from the consortium attended her class thrice to examine the possibility of incorporating STEM in regular classes offered by the consortium schools which use PBAT (performance based assessment tasks) instead of Regents-based assessment.

Mangapathi Rao Donthini used his newly acquired knowledge and mechatronics materials to conduct activities on magnetism and electricity in an eleventh grade class of 18 students. In particular, he created an experimental setup using a dc motor and a Basic Stamp 2 microcontroller to illustrate the concept and calculation of centripetal force.

Russell Holstein had a general sixth grade class of 33 students that incorporated general basic computer skills class with specialized topics that examine and explore scientific concepts ranging from machines using LEGO robotics to smart sensors such as the smart permeameter developed during the 2011 RET summer program. This class also examined the relationship of soil to the processes of industrialization to better understand sustainable agriculture and its importance in global and local health. Moreover, in a sixth grade shop class, 29 students studied introduction to engineering and design with focus on designing for sustainability and created physical models using the MakerBot 3D printer. Mr. Holstein also had a seventh grade shop class composed of 19 students that covered a full year of mechatronics leading up to rapid prototyping that integrates the study of the Parallax Basic stamp with motor controls and the MakerBot 3D printer. Another seventh grade talent class composed of 19 students exclusively studied Lego Robotics. Along with all of this, Mr. Holstein installed a 125 gallon fish tank in his room that is expected to serve as a playground for 25 after school robotics students to explore underwater automated vehicles and further integrate 3D printing using the MakerBot 3D printer.

In an eleventh grade Physics class of 34 students, Seth Guinals-Kupperman devoted 10 hours in a series of laboratory investigations focused on the material properties of flexible food. Specifically, students used digital force probes and rulers to measure bulk modulus, Young's modulus of elasticity, and effective spring constant for such elastic foods as Jell-O and Chinese gelatin, modeling them as soft tissue.

Mingyu Li taught General Science to five sections of mixed level 9-12th graders, with 34 students in each section. She integrated her mechatronics knowledge when presenting lessons on mechanical wave, sound and light, units of measurement, measuring spring constant, and the Young's modulus of elasticity for soft materials. Her students also performed 10 hours of projects on science career search, food nutrition of teens, and robotics in bioengineering. Finally, she was extensively involved in mentoring eight FIRST Tech Challenge and one FIRST Robotics Challenge teams at her school. She helped these teams with mechanical design of robot and programming.

Under an Introduction to Computer Science class consisting of 32 high school students, Hilary Mallar created and conducted a sequence of six lessons on mechatronics and robotics.

Noam Pillischer, an 11th grade physics teacher and middle school robotics coach, designed hands-on lessons that covered the New York State Physics curriculum and integrated the use of mechatronic design. Sixty-six eleventh graders designed, built, and programmed a robot to study kinematics and force concepts. Twenty 6-8th graders studied mechatronic principles and circuit design to create a robotic garden that could communicate with an iPad app.

Finally, we provide illustrative examples of academic year interactions between project teachers and project personnel.

On February 27 and 28, 2012, Dr. Vittoria Flamini visited the school of teacher Seth Guinals-Kupperman. She discussed following topics with the students: Bioengineering, Sports, and Ethics.

On March 9, 2012, Dr. Vittoria Flamini visited the school of teacher Mingyu Li. She discussed following topics with the students: Bioengineering, Movement, and Robots.

On March 29, 2012, Prof. Nikhil Gupta visited the school of teacher Mangapathi Rao Donthini. He interacted with Mr. Donthini's Physics class. The class conducted a Centripetal Force experiment using the experimental testbed developed by Mr. Donthini in summer 2011.

On April 2, 2012, Jared Alan Frank visited the school of teacher Hilary Mallar. He demonstrated to students iPad Apps for Robotics and explained the overarching theme of his research.

On March 15, 2012, Prof. Magued Iskander visited the school of teacher Ryan Cain. He gave an interactive presentation to second grade students titled "What do Engineers Do? Example: Geotechnical Engineering." He discussed the various roles that he plays as a teacher, researcher, engineer, and expert. He used a variety of physical models to illustrate important concepts in geotechnical engineering.

On May 31, 2012, Prof. Magued Iskander visited the school of teacher Russell Holstein. He gave a Powerpoint presentation to 5-7 graders about geotechnical engineering and its role in society. Next, he discussed the roles of research and design in influencing construction. He ended with a presentation about how to rebuild the Manhattan waterfront using recycled polymeric piling and the research that his team is conducting to make polymeric piling a suitable replacement to timber piling.

Teacher Jeffrey Bernhardt visited the Mechatronics Lab approximately 6 times after the end of the 2011 summer research program. His return visits were focused on: (a) working on refining an iPhone app for a fish robot; (b) seeking support from graduate researchers on the development of an iPad app to control a variety of functions in a table-top scaled model home; and (3) collaborating on a technical paper which he co-authored with project personnel.

Four teachers from the 2011 RET Site (Ryan Cain, Russell Holstein, Lindrick Outerbridge, and Noam Pillischer) are currently collaborating with the project team on an NSF-funded GK-12 Fellows project. As participants of our GK-12 Fellows project, these four teachers host NYU-Poly GK-12 Fellows in their classroom throughout the academic year. Moreover, they visit for project meetings to NYU-Poly once every month. Therefore, through the synergistic GK-12 Fellows roject we have a deep and sustained collaboration with these four teachers of the 2011 RET Site.

2010 RET Site Attendees:

Mr. Jason Farina participated in the project with two of his high school students who conducted all structured learning activities and collaborated with Jason on his research even delivering the final technical presentation. Because of this experience, one of his students has decided to become an engineer and is currently assisting in the live teaching of an online calculus course.

Ms. Donna Gobin has created a FIRST Lego League robotics team in a middle school class of 30 students. Donna and her summer workshop partner Robert Calungsod, a high school teacher, have created a mentoring program between their two schools. Students from Robert's school support Donna's students and provide guidance based on their prior experience in the competitions. These students will receive community service credit towards their high school diploma.

Mr. Russell J. Holstein is introducing technology and engineering to a 7th grade class of 21 students, 13 of whom are girls, by discussing engineering as a profession and using a scaffolding approach to programming, which gradually builds-up from Microworlds, Scratch, and Chipmunk BASIC to the Basic Stamp microcontroller. His class is also studying power system and is scheduled for a trip to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Cogeneration Plant.

Mr. Matthew Fisher has implemented a unit on robotics and electronics in his modern technology class. His students have designed wooden robotic arms that can perform tasks such as simple drawing, page turning, and ping-pong ball manipulation, among others.

2009 RET Site Attendees:

Mr. John Schineller received a mini grant from the Port Washington Teacher Center to embed lab investigation of the photoelectric effect with light emitting diodes and photoelectric sensors in the optics and modern physics units of high school physics curriculum, allowing students to connect with pervasive applications of this technology in alarm systems and remote control devices.

Mr. Robert Gandolfo is starting an introduction to robotics class using LEGO Mindstorms.

Mr. Jason Farina is encouraging his math students to "think like a researcher." Thus, instead of having students rely on the teacher as the arbiter of truth, he is providing them tools to convince themselves whether they are right or wrong. These efforts have elevated mathematical discourse and given students new control over math.

2005 RET Site Attendees:

Mr. Tom Byrne of New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, NY, has used robots in his Physics classes and as an introduction to Physics in general. He has also demonstrated robots to the parents at "Meet the Teacher Night" when explaining his summer activities.

Mr. Michael Francesco of Tappan Zee High School, Orangeburg, NY, received a $3,800 grant from the South Orangetown Central School District to acquire robotics kits. He is using these kits in his Active Physics (grade 9), Regents Physics (grades 11 and 12) and AP Physics B classes.

Ms. Joy Hinds of Abraham Lincoln High School, Brooklyn, NY, has written an article in Lincoln Log.

Mr. Robert Morris of Clarkstown North High School, New City, NY, has designed a robotics course which has been approved by his school board for an offering in 2006.

Mr. Joseph Rodichok of Smithtown High School, Smithtown, NY, is using robots in his Physics classes to demonstrate different mechanics related concepts. He has disseminated his project activities to his colleagues during department meetings where he also presented a video demonstration of his experimental apparatus in action.

Mr. Rodolfo Vera of IS 125 Woodside, Woodside, NY, has established an after school robotics club that meets every Wednesday and has 10 student members. In addition, he has conducted several professional development sessions for teachers to expose them to mechatronics and the SMARTER-type activities.

2004 RET Site Attendees:

Mr. Ed Gruber of Eastchester High School, Eastchester, NY, teaches Science Research and Physics. SMARTER gave Ed the electrical and mechanical engineering experience he never gained as a physics major in college. The Parallax Boebot has become a regular classroom mascot, appearing in class when teaching vectors and kinematics as a constant velocity vehicle, when teaching waves and optics because of its IR sensing ability, and when teaching electricity when circuitry is being taught. He borrowed several SMARTER projects, including a cleverly designed Newton's third law experiment and a fascinating Bohr model energy calculator. He is also attempting to push more of his advanced students into doing robotic design projects.

Ms. Amanda Gunning of North Rockland High School has mentored students in her school's science club to conduct exercises in "What's a Microcontroller?" In addition, she has brought her students on a field trip to the Mechatronics laboratory @ Poly. Finally, in fall 2004 and spring 2005, she borrowed various mechatronics-enabled science experiments from the laboratory.

Mr. Michael Koumoullos of the Aviation High School, NY, submitted the following to us.

Robotics Take Flight: The effect of the SMARTER program on Aviation High School

Aviation High School students and staff have embraced robotics. Robotics has flourished inside and outside the classroom. Last year, student participated in two robotics competitions: The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition and a regional Lego competition. Also, twenty sophomores enrolled in a pre-engineering class taught by Michael Koumoullos, a 2004 RET Site program participant at Polytechnic University.

Led by Laurie Nearon, Assistant Principal of Science, and teachers Samantha Gian and Michael Koumoullos, Aviation High School students participated in the FIRST Robotics Long Island Regional Competition and won two awards: Highest Seeded Rookie and Rookie Inspiration Award. Michael Koumoullos, the technical mentor, learned much of what he knew because he was a participant of the RET Site program at Polytechnic University. The team will compete again this year.
This past spring marked the inception of a pre-engineering course targeting sophomores. Developed by LaGuardia Community College's College Now staff and Aviation High School teacher Michael Koumoullos the class explored mechanical and electrical engineering and culminated in a robotics design project. The class was taught by Michael Koumoullos.

Aviation High School also entered the world of Lego Robotics by hosting and participating in a regional Lego competition. In early May 2005, Aviation High School hosted a Lego competition run by New York City Department of Education Region 4 Lead Technology Specialist Teresa Bader and her assistants Stephen Shapinsky and Norm Scott. Aviation High School participated in the competition by entering a team mentored by Michael Koumoullos.

Principal Eileen Taylor, Assistant Principal Mario Cotumaccio and Career and Technical Education Liaison for Region 4 Marilyn Scher provided continued support of the school's robotics endeavors. Mark Peress of DeVry University was a key liaison for the FIRST robotics team. A donation of $6,000 was provided by DeVry University.

Ms. Denise McNamara of High School for Health Professions and Human Services, New York, NY, obtained approx. $1,800 from her school to purchase one Lego Robotics Educator Startup Kit and 5 "What's a Microcontroller?" kits. She worked with 15 of the brightest students in a "research club" environment.

Dr. Ron Occhiogrosso of HAFTR High and Middle School, New York, presented a poster on his RET work at the 2004 INSPIRE Conference. He has used the Newton's Third Law experiment and the SMARTER Weather Balloon, among others, to conduct show-n-tell sessions for his students.

Dr. Vincent Pereira of New Explorations into Science, Technology and Mathematics, a science magnet school in Manhattan, NY gave a talk at the Second Annual RET Pre-Conference at the NSTA National Convention, Dallas, TX, 2005. In fall 2005, he began teaching a class "Introduction to Robotics and Engineering." It has 15 students and meets for 45 minutes, 3 times a week, for the full year. In this class he is doing experiments on "What's a Microcontroller" and "Robotics." Through his school's support, he obtained 5 kits each of "What's a Microcontroller" and "Robotics" (approx. $1,100). Finally, Dr. Pereira and his students have participated in the JWOD/JETS National Engineering Design Challenge Competition in which they designed a device to fold sleeping bags into compact bundles.

2003 RET Site Attendees

Mr. Richard Balsamel of Science High School, Newark, NJ, raised over $4,000 from his school district for mechatronics kits and supplies, and began a mechatronics research club. In addition, he is introducing mechatronics in his physics classes by integrating four sample activities for students.

Mr. David Deutsch of Manhattan Center for Science and Math High School, New York, NY, has raised over $3,000 from his school and the Children's Aid Society for mechatronics and robotics kits. He is training students in an after-school mechatronics club. Dave's students have visited the mechatronics laboratory @ Poly and he has borrowed various mechatronics-enabled science experiments from the laboratory.

Mr. Paul Friedman of Seward Park High School, New York, NY, has raised over $1,500 from his school's alumni association for robotics kits. He has partnered with a colleague to train students in an after-school program. Paul's students have visited the mechatronics laboratory @ Poly and he has borrowed various mechatronics-enabled science experiments from the laboratory.

Mr. Robert Gandolfo of Plainedge High School, North Massapequa, NY, reported on his SMARTER experience in his school district newspaper. In fall 2004, through his school's support, Robert obtained 6 Robotics, 6 Board of Education, and 6 Basic Analog and Digital kits from Parallax Inc. In spring 2005, in his Introduction to Engineering class, he began using this material to introduce mechatronics to 20 students over a period of 10 weeks. He has borrowed various mechatronics-enabled science experiments from the laboratory.

Mr. William Leacock of W. C. Mepham High School, Bellmore, NY, received a $1,500 mini-grant from his school district for mechatronics kits. Every other day, during a single class period of AP Physics, he teaches a short lesson introducing his students to a hands-on activity planned for a double class period the following day. Mr. Leacock wrote the following to us: "The students are enjoying it so much that, even though I allow them a break in between the double periods, almost all of them stay and work right through the break. It is wonderful to see them learn and enjoy themselves so much." He has borrowed various mechatronics-enabled science experiments from the laboratory.

Mr. Michael McDonnell of Midwood High School, Brooklyn, NY, used over $5,000 funding from his school to obtain robotics kits and taught robotics to over 200 students in fall 2003 and spring 2004 through Robotics and Advanced Robotics courses. Furthermore, with colleagues, he applied for and received a 3 year $300,000 grant from his school district under the Vocational and Technical Education Act (VATEA). The VATEA grant is enabling him to develop and implement a four year robotics curriculum in his school.

Ms. Marlene McGarrity of the Christa McAuliffe School, Brooklyn, NY, raised over $1,500 for a project titled, "Young Engineers are Made in Brooklyn through Robotics and Mechatronics," through an online grant agency. From this grant, she obtained wheeled robots and Mars rover kits, and is using these in her seventh grade classroom. She also wrote an article on her SMARTER experience.